Unit 20: Computer Game Platforms and Technologies

BTEC Extended Diploma in Games Development Unit number and title

Unit 20: Computer Game Platforms and Technologies

Task 1: Mobile based gaming

We have access to testing Game Maker games on Android devices and I personally have access to a Samsung Galaxy s-2 gt-i9100 which has a 5.5 inch display and touch controls. Therefore Android is the target platform. The main challenge is catering to the touch controls which can be done one of two ways. The first way is using Game Maker’s add_virtual_key function and creating keys that work cross platform that will execute when tapped. The second way is using the function global_mouse_check_button which is also cross platform and will work with a touchscreen. There is another way of doing it, by using device_mouse_check_button but this would require me to create a new way of using the buttons in my game. Therefore the first two options are preferred.

The other challenge of using this platform is thinking about how the hardware specifications affects sprites and gameplay. The screen size of most modern Android phones is around 5 inches and this will affect things such as sprite position, sprite size, button size, file size. The display resolution is 480 x 800 which I will have to take into account when re-designing the user interface. The RAM will affect how fast the game is run and so file size should be kept as small as possible to ensure a smooth gaming experience. Audio output is mono so my sounds should be mono as well.

Below are the relevant hardware specifications for the Samsung Galaxy gt I9100 s-2.

Samsung Galaxy s-2 gt-i9100 hardware specs

Embedded Operating System:   Google Android 2.3.1

Dimensions:       66.1 x 125.3 x 8.49 millimetres

CPU Clock:          1200 MHz

CPU:      Samsung S5PC210 Exynos 4 Dual 4210

RAM capacity:   1 GiB

ROM capacity:   15.2 GiB

Display Technology:        color Super AM-OLED Plus , 16777216 scales

Display Diagonal:              4.3 "

Display Resolution:          480 x 800

Room size resolution: 938 x 553

Video port:         1920x1080 (1080p) resolution

Microphone(s):                mono

Loudspeaker(s):               mono

Audio Output:   3.5mm

Positioning Device:          Multi-touch screen

Here are some screenshots from the Android version of my game:

Task 2: Web based gaming

Game Maker lets you export HTML 5 games without changing any of the code involved. This means that my game can be played on PC with web browsers such as Google: Chrome or Internet Explorer. My game currently uses mouse controls for its buttons that control functions such as twisting, sticking, menu controls, etc. However if a player is using his mobile with touch controls or other device controls such as a keypad, they will not be able to interact with the game. To rectify this I will have to create a separate version for HTML based gaming that utilises touch controls in some way. This could be done either by creating virtual keys that are clickable or using the global_mouse_button functions.

Additional to this, audio in Game Maker does not work with Internet Explorer because Game Maker uses something called WebAudio which is not compatible with Explorer. Therefore I will be choosing Google Chrome as my target browser. It is one of the most commonly used browsers and has a wide array of applications from the Chrome store that enhance the experience. Because it is both popular and compatible with Game Maker’s sound system, I will be using Google Chrome. After some testing we figured out that .WAV files do not appear to work natively with Chrome and require a plug-in to be used. Therefore it would be most convenient for the player for me to convert all my .WAV files into .MP3 files that will reduce the quality of the sound but allow for Chrome to play it.

This is a short video clip of the Web version of my game, played on Internet Explorer: